Poet and historian Christopher T. George, British-born but now a U.S. citizen, regularly blogs on politics, current affairs, culture, and history. He brings an eclectic and unique viewpoint to all that he writes about.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Well, it's been a long haul, and I am sorry to have been so long away. But honestly I couldn't figure out to get back into this blog. But now I have finally managed it and I come skidding back in with my New Year resolutions just prior to my fifty-eighth birthday (this coming Tuesday, January 10. . . Happy Birthday to me! ).

The first of the poems below was written for a challenge at Wild Poetry Forum and was not occasioned by my birthday (liar! liar!). . . I wrote the poem in October after returning from attending the Jack the Ripper conference in Brighton, England. In the poem I liken myself to Ariel Sharon in terms of size. Following Mr. Sharon's unfortunate massive stroke of the past few days, I have written a couple of poems since announcing my New Year resolutions to give up beer and Kit Kats -- [A sidelight for Ripperologists... the rotund man who inspired the poem is not Sharon but author and D'Onstonite, Ivor Edwards, seen in the bar of the Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton]

The Shape I Am In

It's my birthday... fifty seven today, and in a pub a man floats by with a pint of beer. I construe him as tubby Ariel Sharon drifting over porpoised carpet, as Sharon hovers blimp-like over the mosaicked, jigsawed Mideast. But with despair I realize I am the tub shape of Sharon -- reject workout for one more lager at the bar rail, more munchies. Where is that thin young man who sailed to Nixon's America, paddy fields with napalm or Canadian sanctuary -- I didn't get drafted, lottery no. 315 of 365. But heard of another Liverpool boy, a non-citizen who died in Vietnam, could have been me, tear gas and blood at Kent State in Neil Young's lyrics-- "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio." Ah, but luckily at fifty seven (all those Heinz varieties of me!) I can sail above it all, rolling in the stratosphere like Ariel Sharon.

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No Belly Laugh for Me

No, ma'am, now that I've given up beer, y'all cain't call me Mr Beergut no more.

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Christopher T. George was born in Liverpool, England in 1948. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, near Johns Hopkins University with his wife Donna. Chris is the author of Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay and co-editor of the Journal of the War of 1812. He is featured in the History Channel's "First Invasion: The War of 1812." He is working with Dr. John McCavitt on a biography of Major General Robert Ross. See The Man Who Captured Washington - General Robert Ross. He is historian for the Havre de Grace Bicentennial project and is an advisor to both the Maryland and Baltimore County Bicentennial projects. He regularly gives talks on the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake Bay region. Chris tweets at hashtag @cthompsongeorge